Hardened Heart
by VeniVediVici
Summary: Maryse has gone through many trials and tribulations, but she always comes out stronger.


**A/N: I came up with this on a whim. Pretend that Maryse's family—the Truebloods—liked to be all fancy and whatnot, so little girls wear silk!**

Maryse Lightwood had grown up a sheltered child in the elite, cold and proud Trueblood family in Alicante. Every morning she would be awoken by a servant to a breakfast served on a slightly tarnished old silver tray complete with lightly boiled eggs, bread toasted over the fire, a cup of milky tea that could be refilled from the polished tea pot, a curved plate filled with jellies to spread over her bread and whatever else happened to be cooked up in the kitchen. Then once she'd finished breaking her fast, Maryse would be dressed in fine silk clothing as befitted a Trueblood child, with tiny little slippers and ribbons crisscrossing up her small legs. A maid would escort her promptly to a music lesson or perhaps tutoring in the Shadowhunter ways. Her mother, Eleanor had protested very lady-like that no daughter of hers would ever become a Shadowhunter. In her belief, it was a strictly male profession. Naturally, Maryse's stubborn will to get her way succeeded in the end. Her father had no sons to carry on the family legacy, so he decided that it was just as well that Maryse wanted to be a Shadowhunter. After all, his branch of the Trueblood name would die out when she married, so if Maryse did end up dying, it wouldn't affect his family in any way. Somewhere in that little girl's mind, she realized that she was not as important as say, a brother would be, and it only served to harden her heart.

Training was brutal and tough, but she flourished in the difficult conditions, and even her father was proud of his daughter for being so good. He'd half-expected her to crumble within the first few weeks and beg to be released from the stress of training. No, Maryse knew that to show weakness in the faces of those who believe that you will fail is a fatal mistake, and she vowed never to show weakness, especially in front of her father and his male friends.

A few years after beginning her Shadowhunter training, at the age of sixteen, Maryse met an elegant, tall, black-haired boy named Robert Lightwood. He was the object of many a girl's eye, though the real Casanova of the school was the blond-haired Valentine Morgenstern, but Maryse had only eyes for Robert. She daydreamed of having children with his eyes, or perhaps hers, it didn't matter. They looked extremely similar to one another, so she supposed it didn't matter. As soon as these thoughts entered her mind, she banished them with such intensity. She was only a girl of sixteen after all, why was she entertaining such ideas about a boy she hardly knew at all? It was ridiculous; something Jocelyn Fairchild or Amatis Greymark would do, and often did in their court of delicate ladies who looked way too sweet to be able to do much damage. Maryse envied them sometimes, though. She was tall, willowy, with more muscles than any of those girls had. Her eyes were sapphires, and had the hard, unyielding traits that went along with the gem. Brash, insensitive, cruel at times, unafraid…those were her traits, and she feared that maybe what Robert was looking for in a future wife was a woman along the lines of Jocelyn, if he even was interested in marrying so soon.

As it turned out, Maryse didn't have to worry very much after all. A few months after Jocelyn Fairchild announced her engagement and subsequently married Valentine all the space of a couple weeks, Old Man Trueblood called his daughter into his study where she found Robert Lightwood and his father standing off to the side. He informed Maryse that she was now engaged to be married to Robert and she had best make sure that she could juggle marriage, motherhood—she was expected to have lots of sons to carry on the Lightwood name, and daughters as well, so that the Lightwood family could make alliances with other prominent Shadowhunter families—and being a Shadowhunter. Maryse had no intention of being anything _but _perfect at all of these things. And when she finally was wed to Robert and part of a group called The Circle, everything seemed to be going perfectly.

When their first baby, a boy called Alexander was born, Maryse looked down upon her sweet little son and believed that he had to be the most beautiful child born to any parent. Long and lean already at birth, with a shock of rich, ebony black hair and the most startling blue eyes, Maryse had a feeling that Alec would definitely break a heart or two as he got older. The girls would absolutely fawn over him. Maybe he would surpass Valentine's own son in good looks and popularity. Robert did love his son, of that Maryse was positive, but she wasn't sure that he had the true love of a father. It took her waking up after Alec was born to see Robert cradling the infant to his chest and describing all of Alicante to him, promising him that he would become a truly great Shadowhunter and there was absolutely nothing that would make Robert ever be ashamed or angry at his son. It had made Maryse tear up a little, and she'd turned over and kept pretending to be asleep.

And then the Accords happened.

Everything kind of happened so fast. Maryse remembered leaping up with her seraph blade, watching for Robert, and then people dying, blood spurting everywhere, cries of agony and pain and then…maybe eight or nine non-Circle members with seraph blades surrounding her. It was over, and Valentine was nowhere to be seen. Things were not the same. Her father had essentially disowned her after her betrayal of the Clave, and her mother was too heartbroken and ashamed to ever leave her house again. She'd die in 2004 of the shame. Poor little Alec—who'd played with Jocelyn's son Jonathan—was taken into a warlock's custody and held until her and Robert's trial was over. It just about killed Maryse to be parted from her little boy, but as a member of the Trueblood family—albeit former member—she had to hold her head up high and show no weakness or cracks. It would not do at this point in time. Many members of the Circle were killed, along with Valentine's family as well as Jocelyn's parents—though those deaths were accidental, and all that was left were her and Robert, Hodge Starkweather and a few others. As the sentence was passed down, Maryse looked around and saw many familiar faces: her intimidating, regal father staring pointedly away with a stony gaze. Alec was being held in the arms of that extremely tall, foreign warlock, pulling at his hair, though the warlock gently disentangled Alec's chubby baby fingers from his hair with a good-natured smile. The decision for her and Robert was to be sent to run the New York Institute and allowed to Idris on certain occasions, whilst Hodge Starkweather was forever cursed to live in the Institute and never leave.

They left immediately. No well-wishers, no send-off, nothing. Maryse and Robert Lightwood, along with Alec, were sent away with little more than the Inquisitor to watch them pass through a Portal.

New York was strange and different, but they made ends meet and thrived in this Idris-like city. Maryse became pregnant a year or so after their banishment and gave birth to a little daughter named Isabelle. Straight from birth, she already seemed to be rebellious and headstrong, but also a sweet little girl. Maryse was almost disappointed that Isabelle didn't have her eyes.

Robert became distant in the years after being banished from Idris. He had so loved living there in his homeland, and the separation anxiety seemed to grow with each passing day. Maryse knew that he missed home, and truth be told, so did she. Even if she didn't have a family to go back to, all Shadowhunters dreamed of Alicante, the Glass City. But the thing of it was that they could never truly go back. Their children might, perhaps, but Isabelle had never even been in Idris, and Alec was probably too young to remember anything. It seemed like he did at times, but children forget easily. It would probably be better if he did forget. The longing could become horrendous at times, with Hodge being a painful reminder of that each and every day. His broken body and destroyed soul made the children ask questions that were probably best left unanswered. It didn't make things better seeing that coal black raven perched atop his shoulder every waking moment. It gave her a bad vibe.

Now, when Maryse had first married Robert, she'd vowed never to be unfaithful to him or do anything that could harm him in any way. He'd done the same, but apparently he had other ideas about what Shadowhunter wedding vows mean. Maryse had found him in a spare room in the Institute with another woman. She knew who the woman was, and why she was there—apart from being a mistress—but there was nothing she could really do. Not really, anyway. Breaking a marriage vow was almost taboo and Maryse Trueblood was not about to shame her family name any more. So, she'd calmly approached Robert later, explained to him that he would not be leaving her, but he could be with other women if that was what he chose, and that they were going to have a second son in six months' time. Upon hearing this news, Robert had promised Maryse that he would never be with another woman as long as he lived, and so he had…past the birth of Max, the arrival of Jace Wayland into their home, Valentine's return, Alec's relationship with a very familiar warlock, the demon children, the possession of Jace and the battle that took the life of Amatis Greymark and other good, former Shadowhunters.

Do not pity Maryse Lightwood for her harsh upbringing, nor her semi-failed marriage, or the loss of her child, thus ending the Lightwood name. No, be proud that she is fighting for freedom against the tyranny of those who would oppose the Clave.


End file.
